


The Monsters Stay With Us

by RamblesandDragons



Series: Monster Falls [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Monster Falls (Gravity Falls), Epilogue, Snakes, This might be the fluffiest thing I've written so far
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25945690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RamblesandDragons/pseuds/RamblesandDragons
Summary: Turns out when you spend the Summer as a monster there are some side effects.
Series: Monster Falls [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1750264
Comments: 11
Kudos: 96





	The Monsters Stay With Us

**Author's Note:**

> I've had a little bit of a writer's block with Monster Falls ever since MMOS but then this fun little idea hit me. I also wanted to give Pacifica a little more attention. 
> 
> There is a snake in the story if that's something that freaks you out. 
> 
> Thank you again to my wonderful beta reader [Alverann!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alverrann/pseuds/Alverrann)

Pacifica tapped her nails on the wood of the desk as the video chat program rang. It had been a month since the last time she could talk to her new friends, and part of her worried that the people she was calling wouldn't answer - that they had moved on from the summer … that she might not be worth the effort of keeping up with. 

That didn't sit right with her. She didn't like this feeling. Beforehand everyone wanted to be friends with her, but it had been - as she had later realized - for the wrong reasons. It annoyed her immensely that she was feeling this way to begin with. Maybe it had been better to be alone and ignore the rest of the world? Freeze them out. Turn them to stone. All of these thoughts floated away as a pair of twins appeared on her computer screen. 

"PACFICIA! How are you?" Mabel all but shrieked in excitement earning a wince from her twin next to her. 

Pacifica let out a little snort, amused at Mabel’s constant enthusiasm. “I'm okay, Mabel. Sorry it's taken so long to call. Between work and school it's been busy." 

"Oh yeah. Soos said you got a job at Greasy’s. How's working in the real world?" Dipper asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Gross but having my own money is nice." 

In truth she didn't need to have the job. Sure, her family had lost the mansion and a good chunk of millions, but they were still rich. But getting a job meant a few things. It was financial independence, to start with. She was tired of her parents having so much control over her. This was the first step to getting out from under their thumb. It was also something normal kids her age did, and she could start to bridge the very large gap in understanding between her and the rest of the world. 

The three of them chatted for a while, and Pacifica eagerly awaited the right moment to show them the thing she was most excited about. Finally, Mabel started talking about Waddles and how he was adjusting to California. In fact, Pacifica could see a little pink pile asleep on Mabel's bed in the background. 

"You know, speaking of pets I spent my first two paychecks on getting my own friend." 

"Really? What did you get? Puppy? Kitten? Fluffy bunny?" 

"Nope." She turned the computer to face the tank in the corner. She then ran over and scooped out her new friend. 

"Oh it's beautiful!" Only Mabel could feel the same way Pacifica did about the snake currently slithering in her hands. 

"Woah cool!" Dipper got closer to the camera to get a better look. "What kind is it?" 

"She's a rainbow boa!" 

The snake lived up to its name sake. As it slithered its scales reflected a rainbow sheen in the light of the afternoon sun streaming through the window. 

"So you miss your little friends huh?" Dipper asked. Even in the computer screen the look of understanding was evident. Sure, they were all happy to be human again, but it was nice to know she wasn't the only one missing her monstrous form. Having built in company had been comforting. Snakes were also surprisingly adorable. 

"Does she have a name?" Mabel giggled in delight as the snake stretched out to taste the webcam with her tongue in curiosity. 

"I got her today, so I haven't been able to pick one yet. It needs to be something that fits her." 

She had only spent a few hours with the snake, but it was a very elegant creature. There was this feeling Pacifica had like this snake would have good fasion sense if it could wear clothes. That was probably weird feeling, but the girl had spent the summer as a half snake lady. Who cares about weird anymore after that? 

"Oh how about Iris? Greek goddess of rainbows!" 

As if approving the little snake’s head bobbed up and down by the screen. The three teens laughed. 

"Alright. Iris it is. Thanks, Dipper." 

"I'm surprised your parents are okay with this." Dipper said with a sudden frown. 

"Oh they're not. But it's my money and I'll be doing all the caretaking. So they can't argue too much." 

She had approached the request like a business deal. That was one of the easier ways to talk to her father. Of course keeping what kind of pet it was vague during the discussion helped. Her mother had screamed and almost fainted, but the agreement stood firm. Pacifica realized her new friend was coming with the added benefit of keeping her mother out of her room more. She happily put the little snake on her shoulder where it settled in place, content. 

"I figured you would try for a Llama," Mabel said. 

"Maybe someday, but Iris is enough responsibility now." 

Pacifica heard a faint voice calling from off screen. 

"Sorry girl, we got to go eat. Same time next week?" 

"Yes! I mean...sure. If I can. I'll let you know." 

The twins waved goodbye and disappeared off the screen. Pacifica started on her homework and smiled as her little friend tickled her ear. 

“Yeah, they’re alright, I guess. I think you are too.” 

Dipper and Mabel adjusted as well as they could after one of the craziest summers of their lives. It wasn't that they didn't love home, but they missed the adventure of Gravity Falls. They missed the new family they had made. And of course they missed their grumpy old grunkles the very most. 

Yet there was also a secret part of them – one they only admitted to each other - that missed their monstrous forms as well. 

Dipper missed being able to run like the wind. Before this summer you couldn't pay him to go for a run but that had changed when he had gotten used to his deer legs. Now he longed to run and jump through the forest with the wind in his hair. There wasn't much forest in their part of suburbia, but he could at least keep running. The teen’s parents were very pleased when he started going for evening runs around the neighborhood. He couldn't nearly run as fast with only two legs, but he was determined to increase his speed. 

One day someone noticed just how fast he had become. 

Dipper was running late for the bus. He had struggled with the stupid lock on his locker, _then_ couldn’t quite remember which textbook he needed to take home for the weekend. Finally, he gave up and stuffed both into his bag. 

He then began to run. If he didn’t make it to the parking lot in the next minute the bus would pull off without him and he would be stuck until his parents got off work and that sucked. 

He flew through the hallways his shoes squeaking loudly on the polished floors. Luckily it was at the point of the year where the teachers had started not to care about what the kids did after the bell rang and no one stopped him. He took the stairs two by two then peeled outside. His bus was still in its spot. All the boy had to do was vault the brick wall and he would make it. It would be a breeze; the thing only came up to Dipper’s hips. Judging it just right Dipper flew over the short wall and for a moment felt like he was back in the woods again leaping over fallen logs. The moment ended abruptly as some force grabbed his backpack and he was now being held aloft in the air. Instantly Dipper flailed thinking it was a bully out to get him - still channeling some of those deer escape instincts. 

“Easy Pines! Slow down!” 

The deep voice of the gym teacher shook Dipper out of his sudden fear. 

“S-Sorry Mr. Kim, I was just trying to make the bus!” 

The bus in question began to pull away. 

“Hey 618. Stop for a minute I got a straggler.” Mr. Kim called over the radio and placed Dipper onto the ground. The bus rolled to a stop. 

“Whew. Uh hahaha t-thank you.” Dipper began to walk to the bus but Mr. Kim held fast to his shoulder. 

“Pines where’d you learn to run and jump like that?” 

_Well I was turned into a cervitaur_ _this summer and the deer thing stuck with me in a way._

That’s what he wanted to say. What he did say was “Oh I uh I spent the summer in Oregon. Did a lot of running around in the woods.” 

“I’m impressed. Last year I could barely get you to run the mile.” 

“I’m still convinced the mile is something created to torment kids.” Dipper said it jokingly, but he meant it. Being forced to run a mile timed with all of your classmates had to be the idea of someone who hated kids. 

“Well ever consider trying out for the track team? You could run to your heart’s content without crashing into your teachers.” 

“Really?” Dipper’s voice cracked a hair in surprise. “You think I could make the team?” No one had ever complimented Dipper on anything athletic...ever. 

“If you can keep running like a deer I think you could.” 

“Yeah. I-I’ll think about it!” 

Mr. Kim sent him on his way, and he ran onto the bus receiving a nasty look from the driver. He pulled his cap down to ignore him and slid into the seat where a concerned Mabel sat. 

“Close call there Bro-Bro. What did Mr. Kim want?” 

“He asked me to try out for the track team,” Dipper said a bit dazed. 

“Look at you! My brother the athlete!” 

“I don’t know. I’m not sure I’d have the time but running...” 

Mabel gave him an understanding look. 

“Well I’m going for the swim team so we can both be athletes!” 

“You are?” 

“Yep! I wonder if I'll be able to bedazzle my swimsuit?” 

Dipper laughed. It was nice to know that Mabel really did get it. Well not the bedazzling part but the urge to connect to this new side of themselves that had developed. 

“Both track and swim are spring sports, right? Mabel, if we time it right Grunkle Stan and Ford could come see us at a meet before we all head up to Gravity Falls next year.” Dipper really like the idea of the whole family coming see something like that. It brought a warm feeling to his chest. It was so strange; he had barely known his great uncles before the summer and now he couldn’t really see a future without them in it. 

“Yeah! Let’s call them when we get home.” 

“Mabel it’s like 3 in the morning where they are!” 

“Eh. Grunkle Ford doesn’t sleep like a normal person anyway.” 

Snow gently fell onto Ford’s head as he wandered the stalls of the outdoor market. He didn’t mind really; he was too distracted looking for the perfect gift. This was the first holiday season he was going to spend with his whole family in literal years, and he had to find something just right. He figured if you couldn’t find the perfect holiday gift in New York City you couldn’t find it anywhere. Of course, both he and Stanley had collected a few gifts from faraway places during the past few months of travel for the whole family, but Ford felt the need to find something a little extra special for the twins. 

Stanley came up behind him and peered over his shoulder, “I don’t think the kids are really into novelty mugs.” 

“Oh no, but I figured this one might be good for you Stan.” Ford held up a mug that read ‘Professional Troublemaker’ with a smug smile. 

“Oh yeah? Well that one that says ‘Capable of Murder Before Coffee’ is a good fit for you.” They both chuckled. “Come on Sixer, they’ll love the book of riddles you wrote and illustrated for them.” 

“ _We_ wrote and illustrated.” 

Ford found that there were a few aftereffects of being turned into a Sphinx. He was constantly coming up with riddles and had started keeping a list of his best ones. (No matter how clever they were though Stan could solve each one of them with ease.) The two of them had edited the close to a thousand he had come up with and made it into a riddle book. It was more like a scrapbook really, inspired by Mabel’s. It accounted for their first few months at sea with drawings and pictures from each of them. 

“Just try and not take all night. The plane to Cali leaves early, ya’know.” 

Three days was not nearly enough time to see how the city had changed since Ford had last visited as a young boy. It had been fun exploring it a bit with Stan after they put the boat into a dry dock for the holiday but what he was really looking forward to was seeing his whole family again. 

“Yes, I’ll only be a moment more. Don’t you have some last-minute shopping to do as well?” 

“Already done.” 

“Did you pay for everything?” 

“Hey! ya can’t prove nothing!” Stan walked always in mock offense. Ford just laughed again. 

After a few more moments in the market he spotted a small display of pins. They looked well-made and there were three in particular that caught his eye. A sparkling mermaid, a regal looking deer, and a funny little pin of a rock that read ‘tough as stone.’ Ford smiled. The former sphinx found that - besides his love for riddles - he still enjoyed curling up in a spot in the sun for a nap, but most men pushing sixty felt that way as well. Stan insisted that he could still distract Ford with a laser pointer, and while he had fallen for that once he refused to give his brother the satisfaction of it happening again. 

From listening to the others who had experienced the change they all seemed to have side effects from becoming monsters. Everyone except Stan. If he did, he was good at hiding it. Stan was still the same grumpy-but-lovable knucklehead. Maybe it was because he had always been tough as stone when he needed to be. 

Ford had just finished paying for the pins when his ears picked up the sound of his twin’s voice. He couldn’t make out what he was saying but he knew the tone. It was frustrated. Stan was probably was haggling with some shop kept over a price. 

“I said back off!” Suddenly Stan’s voice grew a little louder. 

The scientist immediately took off in the direction of his brother’s voice, his hand on the hidden gun in his jacket. Even in the bright city lights it was hard to see in the dark snowy night but just at the end of the street near an ally he was able to spot the red beanie his brother always wore. Two men were stalking closer to him. A growl rose inside of Ford. They were going to regret it if they even touched a hair on his brother’s head. 

Before Ford could make it to his brother he heard a roar. Like that of a lion but fiercer with a gravely feel to it. It almost startled Ford enough that he stopped running. Looking around for the source he was shocked to realize the sound had come from his brother. Ford was 98% certain a human shouldn’t be able to make a noise like that. The would-be attackers seemed to agree. They suddenly backed away in fright. So did a lot of the last-minute shoppers freeing up Ford’s path to his twin. 

“Yeah, you punks _better_ run! Ya got no idea who you’re messing with!” Stan growled out. With that the two of them scrambled away. Ford reached his brother as they rounded a corner like a demon from hell was at their heels. 

“S-Stan are you alright?” 

“Yeah I’m fine. Just a couple of punks who thought since I was old, I’d be an easy target. Proved them wrong huh?” 

“How did you do that? That _roar_. It sounded like when you were a gargoyle!” 

“Yeah. Didn’t know I still had that in me. Bet that could come in handy.” 

Ford looked at his brother shocked to see him smiling. 

“Wait until the kids hear this!” Stan said excitedly. 

“You’re very nonchalant for a man who was almost mugged.” Stan’s lack of concern over his own well being frustrated (and downright scared) Ford sometimes. Stan just laughed. 

“What like that’s the first time I was almost mugged? Let me tell ya what I did to this one guy the last time I was in town!” 

Ford listened as Stan told his story on the way back to their hotel room, keeping a careful lookout for any more trouble. His twin was tough as stone, alright, and full of surprises. It seemed like nothing could keep him down, and Ford was forever thankful for that. 

**Author's Note:**

> More Monster Falls is coming! Now that the spookier season is coming upon us I'm in more of Monster Falls mood.


End file.
